Sirius' favorite cousin
by LadyShinigami12
Summary: First-year Sirius Black tried to avoid his cousin's at all costs. So what does he do when he gets caught up in Andromeda's forbidden romance?
1. Chapter 1

"Hey, are you Sirius Black?" A tall, slightly pudgy boy approached Sirius in the hallway. Sirius and his friends froze in place. They recognized the Head Boy, a Hufflepuff by the name of Ted-something. Bonks or something similar.

For a moment, Sirius knew the same thought was going through each of his friends' heads. _He knew_. But how was that possible? No one could have realized they put a charm on the Quidditch field yet. It wouldn't turn pink for another two hours, or at least that's what James had said.

But Ted did not seem to be angry or upset, so Sirius decided to play ignorant. "Yes." Sirius said, tentatively.

Ted came closer to him. He didn't seem to want anyone else to hear, so James, Remus, and Peter backed off. "Can you give this to your cousin?" Ted whispered and handed him a small letter.

Sirius frowned at him. "Which cousin?" Sirius tended to avoid his relatives at Hogwarts on principle, and was not particularly thrilled with the idea of speaking with any of them. But then again, he might just throw out whatever it was Ted was giving him anyway.

Ted grimaced and shuffled his feet. Sirius found it rather comical that a seventh year seemed nervous about talking to a first year. "Andromeda." He finally blurted out. Sirius found himself genuinely surprised. Narcissa always seemed to be slightly nicer than any of them, (relatively speaking, as he considered his whole family to be rather horrible.) Mostly out of confusion, Sirius took the letter and nodded to indicate he would give it to her.

"What did he want?" James said once Ted left.

"What's that?" Peter asked, indicating the letter in Sirius' hands.

"A letter for my cousin Andromeda."

"Your cousin?" Remus asked in confusion "I thought your family was, like, _really_ pureblood." Sirius nodded. "Ted Tonks is Muggleborn, what business would he have with your cousin?"

"Bet it's blackmail. Why else wouldn't he deliver it to her himself?" James said

"Ted Tonks? Blackmail?" Peter said, "Nah, he's too 'Hufflepuff' for that."

"Let's find out." Sirius said, taking out his wand.

"You're going to read someone else's mail?" Remus looked shocked. It was always hard to convince him to do pranks.

"You've known me for, like, two months now, and it surprises you I don't have any morals?" Sirius showed his fake shock. "Trust me, when it comes to my family, I could care less."

Remus and Peter seemed hesitant, but James automatically looked over Sirius shoulder as Sirius seamlessly opened the letter and started reading.

_Dear Andromeda,_

_I know you are embarrassed by me, and I know how deeply you care about your family and I know you don't want to hurt them. But I also know that I am falling in love with you. And no matter how often you tell me otherwise, I can see that you're falling in love with me too. _

_I don't want to make you choose between me and your family, but I cannot leave you either. I would like to see you, even in secret. I don't know how it would work, but please find a way to send me back a reply letter. I figured it wouldn't raise your family's suspicions if your cousin came to talk to you, even if he's a Gryffindor. _

_Hope to see you soon,_

_Ted _

"Blech." James said. "It's so-mushy."

"Yeah, well, older kids are like that, I suppose." Peter said. Against his better judgment, he had read the letter over Sirius' other shoulder. Remus had still refused to look at it.

"It's really brave of her though." Sirius said, "If any other Black saw this, Andromeda would be disowned before you could say _Toujours Pur_." He didn't say it out loud, but this was the first time he actually felt anything like pride for any of his relatives. This was also the first time he didn't feel quite as alone in his struggle against his name.

"What're you gonna do?" Peter asked.

"Deliver it, I suppose." He resealed the letter with magic "You guys wanna join me?"

"Sure!" James said a little too excitedly, but he quickly explained, "Maybe we'll run into Snivellus at the Slytherin table!"

Peter shrugged his agreement, but Remus immediately declined. "I have to go home tonight. My mother's taken ill."

"That's the second time this year! Is she okay?" James asked.

"Oh, she'll be fine, she just has a condition that flares up every once in a while. With Dad gone, though, she really needs someone around the house. I'll probably be back tomorrow, I wouldn't worry." Maybe it was Sirius' imagination, but it sounded as though Remus had memorized this explanation.

"Well, all right then, see you." Sirius headed for the Great Hall, James and Peter in tow.

When they began to approach the Slytherin table, Sirius found his friends leave him almost immediately. They had just spotted Severus eating quite alone at the end of the table. Normally, Sirius would come help 'take care' of Snape, but he found himself too curious about the letter in his hand. Andromeda had always struck Sirius as a miniature version of her sister, Bella, but this letter seemed to prove quite the opposite. Sirius was realizing how little he had actually spoken with Andromeda, despite the too-often family gatherings. Sirius tended to hide in the kitchens during those.

He approached Andromeda cautiously. She was laughing with a group of her Slytherin friends when she saw him. "What do you want?" She asked callously.

He silently handed her the letter. She flipped it over, looking for a name, but not finding any, she asked, "Who's it from?"

Sirius glanced at her friends who were watching him closely and curiously. He leaned in so he was right next to her ear and whispered, "Ted Tonks."

Any trace of humor or laughter that had been on her face vanished without a trace. She looked at her friends first, to make sure none of them had heard what he said, then she glanced at the Hufflepuff table. Quite suddenly, she stood up, grabbed his arm and half pulled, half dragged him into the entrance hall.

As everyone was currently at dinner, the entrance hall was deserted, but she still pulled him behind a statue before slamming him up against a wall. This was no small thing, given that she was a seventh year, and he a first, but she added to this threat by pointing her wand tip directly at his neck. "What did he tell you?"

"Nothing!" Sirius moaned, truthfully for once.

"Did you open this letter?" She was practically spitting in his face.

"No!" She jabbed her wand into his neck. "All right, All right, I opened it! I was just curious, is all and—"

"You little—" She didn't seem to know a swear word strong enough for him so she turned to threats instead. "If you tell anyone about this, especially the family—"

"I won't! I won't! Why would I?" He closed his eyes, expecting to be cursed, but instead felt the wand leave his neck. He reopened them, to find that it was still pointing at him, but her concentration had turned to the letter he had given her. "You should read it," he said, "It's really good."

She glared at him, which seemed to be a threat all in itself, but she began opening the letter anxiously. Sirius tried to look anywhere but at her face as she started reading, but crammed up against the wall, there wasn't much to look at.

Finally, she spoke, though her voice sounded oddly softer. "Do you have a quill?" Searching through his pockets he pulled one out and handed one to her. "Wait there." She commanded. She pressed the letter against the wall and began writing hurriedly. She folded it up and handed it to Sirius. "Give this to him." He made to go back into the Great Hall, but she stopped him. "Not now! Everyone will know if you go straight to him!" He nodded at her in understanding and stuffed the letter in his cloak. "And, Sirius?" Her voice was soft again, "Please don't tell anyone."

He smiled at his cousin. "Nah, I wouldn't miss an opportunity to stick it to the Blacks."

He surprised her again by returning his smile. "You know, you're all right Sirius."

"Black!" They both jumped and turned as Professor McGonagall stormed toward them, seeming to come from the Quidditch Pitch.

"See ya!" He said to his cousin as he took off for the Gryffindor Common Room.

Over time, Sirius found himself seeing a lot more of Andromeda then he had in every family Christmas or other reunion combined. However, it was never in a typical place, or a typical time. Often, she would corner him in hallways between classes, or even early in the mornings or late at night. He began to feel like an owl, but he understood that she could not really depend on an actual owl, in case someone else opened it.

She soon came to find that it was close to impossible to corner Sirius without James, Peter, or Remus around. Eventually, she found out that they already knew her secret, but it took an entire month before she trusted them to pass her letters as well. This was convenient, as Remus and Peter were not in detention nearly as often as James and Sirius.

Sirius' friends did slightly object to spend so much time around the Head Boy. This was not convenient for the trouble makers, but they found Ted had taken a liking to Remus, and so they often assigned him to give him the letters.

James often laughed at their part in the forbidden romance, but Sirius found he liked it. He had started to like his elder cousin, and he slowly became the biggest supporter of her and her romance. He even started taking a bigger part in her own little rebellion, and set up meetings for the couple, and stood guard in case anyone came by to interrupt their little 'date.'

One day, when the seventh year's graduation was almost upon them, Andromeda pulled him aside once more and said, "Thank you." It was the first time that he could remember that any one in his family had ever shown any real affection for him. He wasn't sure how that made him feel.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I truthfully like the first chapter better than this one, but oh well. Here's the second and final chapter. I don't own anything.**

Sirius ran as fast as he could and practically burst open the church doors.

"Where have you been?" Andromeda demanded of him.

"Knight…Bus…took us…across the country…and back." the bridesmaids began fussing over him, straightening his hair and tie, and pinning on his corsage.

"Okay, girls, that'll have to do." Andromeda shooed them into position and grabbed her own bouquet of flowers. Sirius had only just been able to process how she looked in her white gown. You could barely see the slight bump on her stomach that was the reason for this rather rushed marriage. Today was the first time she looked nothing like her older sister.

"Who are they?" Sirius whispered to his cousin, subtly gesturing to the bridesmaids whom he didn't recognize.

"Ted's sisters. Muggles." She whispered back. She practically had to bend double to talk to her younger cousin. He wished he was five years older, if only so Andromeda didn't have to be given away by a thirteen year old boy.

Sirius looked into her face and saw she was biting her lip so hard, it might start bleeding. He knew what she was thinking. None of her school friends would be in the next room, to watch her get married. He was the only family that would be there at all. He wrapped his arm around hers and held her hand tightly. "You made the right choice."

She looked down at him in surprise. "Sirius Black, have you been learning Legilimency?"

He grinned the same way he had often got girlfriends the previous year. "Nah, I'm just that good."

She smiled back and held his hand just as tightly, so that both of their knuckles turned white.

The doors opened and Sirius and Andromeda took their first steps down the aisle. Sirius wished for her sake that his voice would change so that he at least didn't sound like he was thirteen when he said he would give her away.

He took a seat next to one of Ted's relatives that had volunteered to sit on her side of the aisle. His mind began to wander and he thought of all the pranks he could pull. He looked around at all the muggles in the room and it was as though each one had a target placed upon their head to throw a dungbomb at. It was as though James was right there, egging him on. But then he glanced at Andromeda's face and saw exactly how anxious she looked as she stared into her husband-to-be's eyes. Just for her, he decided, just for today, He'd be good.

The wedding itself was rather short. The reception, like all receptions he had been to, was too long.

Andromeda had told him he was not allowed to mention anything about wizards or Hogwarts, or anything magical, because there were too many muggles around. Unfortunately, that left him with very few things to talk about. He got into a very awkward conversation when he had to admit to a rather pretty girl his age he didn't know anything about her favorite band, The Bedbugs, or something like that.

He stuck mainly near Andromeda and Ted, which was awkward in itself, but it was better than nothing.

"So, Sirius, how are your friends?" Ted asked, holding Andromeda's hand.

"Oh, fine."

"How's Remus? I always liked him, he was an intelligent boy."

"Oh, umm, He's-he's okay." Sirius didn't look into his eyes. He wouldn't reveal that he, James, and Peter, had just recently discovered Remus' secret. Not even Remus knew that they knew.

Any conversation with Ted's parents was painful and awkward. Sirius was grateful, when Andromeda asked him to dance.

The general height difference made dancing especially tricky, but they made it work. Sirius looked up into her face, and realized all the anxiety of early that day had left her face.

"You really love him." He said. It was not a question, but a matter of fact.

Andromeda smiled at him. "Oh, Sirius, I hope someday you'll find someone you love enough to defy the family." She gave a small laugh.

"Oh, I don't need to find someone. I'll defy the family anyway." They danced for a while, until Sirius frowned and said, "There is one thing, though."

"What?"

"Ted." Sirius shook his head, "It's too short a name. You have to make sure that kid has a nice, long, complicated Black names. Okay?"

She tried, unsuccessfully, to keep from laughing. "Okay, Sirius. I promise."

That night, Sirius went back home.

"Where were you?" Regulus asked from behind him. Sirius nearly jumped.

Before Sirius could come up with some lie, they heard their mother call both of their names upstairs. The two knew better than to keep her waiting, so they practically raced each other up the steps.

They found their mother and father in the tapestry room, or at least that's what Sirius called it. Surprisingly, he found his grandfather, his Uncle Alphard, Uncle Cygnus, Aunt Druella, and his cousins, Bellatrix and Narcissa. The first thing he noticed was, while Narcissa, Druella, and his father looked shocked, Bellatrix, Cygnus, and his mother looked furious.

"I want you all to see this," His grandfather said slowly, "And remember for all time." He took out his wand and blasted a hole in the tapestry. It took Sirius a moment to realize that the hole had appeared between Bellatrix's and Narcissa's names.

"Andromeda has shamed us." His Grandfather continued. "She is no longer a Black, and no longer a part of this family."

Soon, his Grandfather left, along with his aunt's, uncles, and cousins. Sirius snuck out of his room and went down to the tapestry room. He looked at all the holes in the fabric. He put his hand on the newest hole, and thought about the girl who he had danced with earlier that day.

He looked at his own name, and for a moment, imagined a hole next to Regulus' name.


End file.
